Relationship of Emotional Functioning to Depression in College Students.

McCarthy, Christopher J.; Rude, Stephanie

This paper compares the self-reported emotion regulation strategies of individuals classified as depressed, depression-vulnerable (formerly-depressed), and never-depressed. Depressed individuals scored significantly higher than never-depressed participants on thought suppression as measured by the White Bear Suppression Inventory. They also scored significantly lower on the Attention, Clarity, and Repair scales of the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS) and on willingness to self-disclose negative emotions as measured by the Emotional Self-Disclosure Scale. They perceived themselves as less powerful than did never-depressed participants in a remembered sad situation. Depression-vulnerable (formerly-depressed) individuals scored significantly higher than never-depressed participants on thought suppression and significantly lower on TMMS Clarity scale. They also perceived a remembered sad situation as more undesirable than did never-depressed participants. (Contains 19 references and 2 tables.) (JDM)